Mohun Bagan move into the semis

November 30, 2004 19:39 IST

Brazilian Roberto Mendes Silva scored twice as Mohun Bagan moved into the semi-finals of the Federation Cup football tournament with a convincing 4-1 win over JCT Mills Phagwara in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Bagan will now meet the winner of the last quarter-final between East Bengal and Sporting Club de Goa to be played later in the day.

In a fast-paced encounter, Silva scored in the 29th minute to put the Kolkatans ahead. JCT's Nigerian goalie Ajani Ayoade Ibrahim failed to cleanly collect Silva's long shot and the ball slipped through his hands into the net.

A minute before halftime, Sunil Chettri scored Bagan's second goal with a header off a Tomba Singh cross.

Changing ends, JCT tried desperately to come back into the game and their efforts paid off when Jaswinder Singh scored in the 64th minute. But it remained JCT's consolation goal as Bagan changed gears again.

Dulal Biswas made it 3-1 in favour of Bagan and Silva put the verdict beyond doubt with his superb second goal in the 86th minute.